BACKGROUND: The International Comic Arts Forum, an annual conference devoted to the study of comics, returns to the Library of Congress this October for a three-day event of panels, keynote speeches, artist talks, and exhibitions showcasing work by comic artists and scholars from around the world.

SPECIAL GUESTS: ICAF is proud to present the legendary Malaysian cartoonist Lat (Mohammed Nor Khalid), whose acclaimed graphic novels Kampung Boy and Town Boy have recently been published in English by First Second Books. Lat will speak from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 19. Original drawings by Lat will be on display in the Asian Division Reading room from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 18.

Harvey and Eisner Award-winning comics artist and animator Kyle Baker, creator of Nat Turner and The Bakers and illustrator of Birth of a Nation (written by Aaron Magruder and Reginald Hudlin) and Truth (written by Robert Morales) will speak at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 20.

Noted comics scholar Ian Gordon of the National University of Singapore, author of Comic Strips and Consumer Culture, 1890-1945, will deliver a talk about the history of Superman at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday.

ICAF will also feature eighteen academic presentations by comic art scholars from around the world.

SPECIAL EVENT: ICAF is proud to present a roundtable discussion examining the publication of the Danish Mohammed cartoons and other cartoon controversies around the world. The roundtable will feature cartoonists Lat and Kevin â€œKALâ€ Kallaugher (of The Economist), and Robert Russell of Cartoonists Rights Network International. The roundtable takes place at the George Washington Universityâ€™s Gelman Library at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 19.

SPONSORS: ICAF is pleased to work in collaboration with the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division and the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, and with the support of the Embassy of Malaysia. Other sponsors include the Gelman Library, Andrews McMeel Universal, and Jean Schulz and the Charles Schulz Museum.